Tell Me You Love Me

I've always hated water. Swimming pools, lakes, rivers, bath tubs they all sucked. In the summer when all the kids in the neighborhood clamored to the pool or the nearby lake I stayed safely tucked away on dry land. I didn't like the feel of being soaked, the wet hair, the sticky bathing suits, the grimy film it left behind on your skin. I hated it all. My showers were even held to the bare minimum, used only for hygiene, not pleasure. Get in, get clean, get out. No dilly-dally. No long, drawn out bathing rituals complete with shower singing or scented candles and luffas.

Nope. Not me.

This made my current predicament suck a particularly nasty set of donkey balls. It had been raining for hours and as far as I could tell the heavens had no plans to stop anytime soon. I felt like Noah without the ark. If I wasn't so fucking miserable I would have been impressive. People said I had issues. I say people who smile when it rains were the ones with the real issues. I was keeping my eyes on those fuckers, trust.

I trudged through the water logged forest at a snail's pace, if that. I'd long since abandoned trying to locate anything even resembling Daryl's trail and was instead trying to locate any form of shelter or a lifeboat, but there was nothing but trees, walkers, and water around every bend. I was tired, wet, cold and night was rapidly approaching. All-in-all I was severely screwed.

The guttural snarls of the dead behind me were barely audible over the howling wind and thunder. It was hard to judge their distance in this weather, but I couldn't take the chance of being caught out in the open. The few dozen I fought off while traipsing through this nightmare were difficult to dispatch. The mud, the limited visibility, my water soaked clothes and gear weighing me down, all of it made killing them that much more dangerous. I leaned against a massive tree, breathing in heavy gasps of air, hands braced on my knees. Mud coated my legs up to my knees and bruises were already forming on my arms from slipping and sliding down a hill on my ass. Not my finest moment, but this weather made me as coordinated as a rhinoceros on roller skates. The only good news was I was no longer covered in walker guts. I would take mud over intestines any day of the week.

It could have been a trick of the weather, but I swore the moans were getting closer and heading straight for me. I pressed my back into the tree, trying to make myself as small as possible as I tightened the grip on my rifle. Exhaustion was another serious issue with no solution. I debated the pros and cons of confronting the dead or taking the chance they passed by and I remained unseen. Four of them shuffled into view and I scrunched up my face in disgust. Water logged walkers were not for the faint of heart. The rain had one of two effects on the dead. For some the pelting rain acted like a power washer, sloughing the skin right off their decaying bodies, the flesh pooling at their feet in jellylike clumps. Others seemed to soak up it up like a dying plant, their bodies swelling and bloating to the point of bursting. I didn't know which one was worse, but I knew one thing, they both made me want to puke.

Because my luck was non-existent the group stopped, their heads swiveling left and right as they sniffed the air trying to locate my scent. Just like animals their sense of smell deteriorated with the decline in the weather and thank god because it was probably the only thing keeping me alive at the moment. I took a deep breath, holding it in for a second before slowly exhaling, my body tensing as I readied to attack. I couldn't outrun them in this weather and there was no way I could leave a group this large roaming the area at night. If they weren't going to move on they had to die.

I mentally counted down from three in my head, crossing my fingers I could pull this off, but before I got to one a pair of arms wrapped around my body, pulling me back and out of sight, a hand covering my mouth and muffling the sound of my surprise. My brain went haywire. My body reacting without thought as I struggled against my captor. I jabbed a sharp elbow into their gut and he let out a barely audible 'ompf', but his hold never lessened. He, and it was most definitely a he judging by sheer size, was strong. I picked up my foot, getting ready to slam the heel of my boot down on his toes, but he yanked me backwards, dragging me to the ground. Panic hijacked my brain, a chill racing down my spine as every vile way this encounter might end flashed across my eyes in morbid detail. The man pulled me closer, pressing his face against mine, the short stubble of his facial hair rubbing against my sensitive skin and immediately I stopped struggling.

That scent.

This body.

I knew it.

"Red," Daryl whispered in my ear and I sagged against him, relief so overpowering surging through me I went limp in his arms.

He lowered us to the ground, releasing his hold on me as I turned to face him. He was drenched as well, his dirty blonde hair plastered to his face, clothes clinging to his body in such a provocative manner I was barely able to stop from licking my lips. He took his time examining me, his surprise at finding me slogging through the woods apparent on his normally blank face. His surprise was only momentary before he locked down his expression reverting to a mask of indifference that made me bristle but didn't surprise me. I wasn't exactly off to the races. So far I'd mistaken him for a kidnapper and accidently assaulted him. He put his finger to his lips, taking my hand and pulling me to my feet before unslinging his crossbow. He gestured for me to follow him and I nodded once, trailing behind him as he confidently led us away from the walkers and deeper into the woods.

We walked in silence for nearly 20 minutes before the woods thinned out revealing a small cabin. The butterflies in my stomach went into overdrive as I remembered in detail the last time we stowed away in a cabin in the woods. Judging by the taut lines of his shoulder and the fact he hadn't once looked at me the entire time we were walking I didn't think this encounter was likely to end like the last. Bummer.

I glanced around, nothing but rain, trees and mud for as far as the eye could see and I suddenly remembered why I was here. I felt like Frodo carrying "The Ring", and the damn thing was practically burning a hole in my pocket begging to be used. Suddenly the 10 feet to the cabin was too long to wait. I had to know now.

"Daryl," I yelled over the howling wind and he stopped immediately, glancing over his shoulder. When he saw me standing still in the rain he frowned.

"Come on," he urged, turning without further comment, head down against the raging storm.

"Wait." His shoulders went up and down quickly like he was sighing in annoyance, but I didn't move as he turned to face me. He didn't look happy.

"It's rainin' harder than a cow pissin' on a flat rock." I scratched my head, trying to translate the redneck in a timely manner, but I took too long. "Let's go."

"No," I said firmly. He looked ready to strangle me so I dug into my pocket, pulling out the ring. "Not until you explain this."

His jaw twitched slightly. The only indication he was on edge. His eyes flicked to the ring in my hand for a moment before meeting my eyes, his stupid blank face staring back at me. A tiny sliver of doubt made my hands shake. I realized, belatedly, I may have jumped the gun here. I ran off in the middle of a downpour to track down a man who hadn't spoken two words to me in weeks because I told him to "stay the fuck away from me" and almost knocked out two of his teeth. All on the word of a man who was so full of shit most of the time toilets were jealous.

"Where'd ya get that?" he hissed, taking a threatening step forward and I swallowed hard, holding my ground.

"Did you make it?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Don't matter."

"I think it does," I corrected. "Answer the question." He shook his head, a disbelieving expression on his face. Well, that was better than nothing.

"Don't work that way Red." He turned, heading for the cabin. "I don't owe ya nothin'."

We were gonna have to agree to disagree. I wasn't letting this go. I couldn't. Sometimes there was no next time, no later, sometimes it was now or never. I moved like the lightening streaking across the sky, lunging forward and grabbing his arm, spinning him around to face me.

"You owe me an explanation!" I screamed.

"Bullshit!" he yelled right back, getting in my face. "Ya didn't wanna hear nothin' I had to say b'fore so don't be askin' now."

I shoved him in the chest, "Yes I do!" I shoved him again, his feet shuffling back a step, but it felt more like he was moving because he choose to than because of me. "I wasn't ready to hear it then, but I'm all ears now. So tell me, what is this?"

He ground his teeth together, the rain pelting his face, droplets of water soaking the tendrils of his hair. The beads of rain traveled down each strand, lone droplets hanging precariously on the ends for a split second before cascading down his face. I sucked in a ragged breath, stunned into silence. He was breathtaking. The rain had washed his face clean of mud and grime, his blue eyes a start contrast against his tan complexion. He was all perfect angles and chiseled features. A strong jaw, perfect nose and cheek bones so high they would make a model drool with envy. He was absolute perfection in my eyes. So beautiful it hurt to look at him. I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to bear his proximity and not touch him.

"Please," I begged, barely a whisper, "If you ever cared about me, even for a second, please tell me what this is. What does it mean?"

That was emotional blackmail if I ever heard it, but I was desperate. His body shook and I didn't know if that was good or bad. This was it. There was no going back. We were standing on the edge of forever or nothing, our toes hanging over the brink of what could potentially be unfathomable bliss or unrecoverable heartache. I held my breath, the rain stinging my skin, but I didn't move, waiting, for him. With every second that passed my hopes fell further and further until I was sure there was none left, but out of nowhere he exhaled harshly, his shoulders sagging.

"It was my…grandma's ring," he forced out, words clipped, body so stiff he looked absolutely lethal. I stayed still, afraid any movement might cause him to stop or run. "Had it my whole life." He confirmed everything Merle said, but my heart was hammering so loud in my ears I was surprised I could hear over it. "The first time…the first time I kissed ya…I knew."

My lips trembled, taking in his adorable blush as he stared into my eyes like he was seeing into my soul. "Knew what?"

He took a step forward, taking the ring from my hands and rubbing it between his fingers. "That ya was it for me." All the air in my lungs whooshed out. "She would've loved ya. Y'all ain't nothin' alike, but ya have the same spirit, the same soul." He had the same wistful expression on his face Merle did when he spoke about her. It made me sad I never got to meet her. "Somethin' 'bout the ring didn't feel right as it was so I asked Glenn to help me out. Didn't know what the hell I was doin' till it was done, but somehow it just fits ya." Every walker on this Earth could have strolled into the clearing and I wouldn't have taken my eyes off the man in front of me. "It's hard and soft like ya," his fingers traced the copper wire, "The wire, it makes me think of forever. The way it wraps 'round the ring over and over only to start again. It's endless. That's what I feel when I think 'bout ya Red."

The wind whirled around us, a cocoon of rain hammering our bodies. The ball was in my court now. He did as I asked and laid his soul bare. I either forgave him now and we moved forward together or we ended, forever.

"Ask me," I said, holding his gaze.

He frowned. "Not like this," he said, pulling me closer, trying to use his body to shield me from the rain. "Not here."

"Ask me."

I didn't care about the where. In the middle of a tornado next to a deserted cabin was as good a place as any. He swallowed hard, hands shaking as he held the ring. He looked nervous and it was so endearing I think I fell in love with him all over again. I thought I would feel nervous, terrified even at the enormity of what was happening, but I didn't. If anything I felt anticipation, excitement, elation.

"Alexandrina Victoria Winters." He paused, giving me his signature smirk that legitimately made me swoon before taking a deep breath I copied. "Leavin' ya that day was the hardest thing I ever done. It felt like somethin' inside me died I might never get back. I know I don't deserve ya, but I'll spend whatever time I got left trying to be worthy of ya." He stepped closer and I tilted my head back so I could see him. "I waited my whole life to love ya Red. Will ya be my wife?"

"Yes," I answered without hesitation.

He crushed me to him, my arms going around his neck as he lifted me off the ground, pressing his lips to mine. I melted against him, my hands fisted in his hair. He nibbled on my lower lip and I sighed, slanting my head and opening my mouth as his tongue danced with mine. We devoured each other until the need for oxygen forced us apart and he reluctantly lowered me to the ground, keeping his hands at my waist.

"I got somethin' that belongs to ya."

His voice sounded hoarse as he pulled back, holding up the ring. I grinned at him, tears welling in my eyes the rain washed away as I held out my left hand. He smiled bashfully, sliding the ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly and I had no idea why that shocked me. Nothing with Daryl should come as a surprise at this point. He interlaced our fingers, a proud smile lighting up his face as he looked at the ring on my finger.

"My turn," I declared, steadying my nerves for the delivery of my vows.

The thought drew me up short. We were getting married. Right here. Right now. In the middle of a torrential downpour we were pledging our heart and soul to each other for better or worse, till death do us part. It was absolutely crazy and that was why I knew it was right. Even before the end of the world I never would have wanted a big ceremony in front of dozens of people I didn't like. This, right here, with him, was perfect.

"A long time ago I thought I made decisions that meant I would end up alone. There isn't a lot in my life I'm proud of, but despite the pain and sadness I wouldn't change a thing." His grip on my hips tightened and I smiled at him. He looked enthralled as I pledged myself to him. "I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I would gladly accept the struggle, the suffering, because it brought me to you." I curled my fingers into his shirt, the two of us holding each other up. "Daryl Dixon, in every universe, every world, every lifetime, I will love you. From this moment, until my last breath, I'm yours, totally, completely, forever."

He looked at me with such tenderness my heart skipped a beat, one hand reverently tucking a strand of wet hair behind my ear as he leaned down. He took his time. His eyes sweeping over every inch of my face as he tilted my chin up, closing the distance excruciatingly slow. The butterflies fluttering in my stomach started tap dancing when his lips touched mine. Our kiss this time was slow and deliberate, a promise of things to come. Without breaking the kiss he hoisted me into his arms, walking us to the cabin, only breaking apart once he reached the door. With grace I would never be able to duplicate he somehow managed to open the door and not drop me, carrying me inside and kicking the door closed with his heel.

"Did you just carry me across the threshold?" He took a few more steps into the one-room cabin before depositing me on my feet.

"It's what husband's do ain't it?" In Carol's smut novels they carried their wives everywhere, so yeah, I guess so.

"You're my husband," I stated, a dopey smile on my face. "We're married."

He nodded, the smirk back on his sexy face. He looked awfully proud of himself. "Ya gonna freak out 'bout it?" I scoffed, that was my line and no I wasn't. I had never been surer of anything in my life. "Good, cause yur stuck with me now Alex Dixon." I could think of worse things to be stuck on. His eyes darkened as he stalked forward, his movements just like when he hunted only this time I was the prey. "Is that so?"

I slapped a hand over my mouth. I said that out loud?

The closer he got the more rational thought became difficult. He stopped in front of me, reaching forward and tugging my tank top over my head. The shiver that racked my body had nothing to do with the chill in the air as his eyes drifted over my skin. He hesitated slightly and I smiled at him, turning slowly, looking at him over my shoulder. He took a deep breath as I moved my hair over my shoulder, allowing him easy access to my bra which he wasted no time in removing. The flimsy piece of clothing fell from my shoulders and I used my forearm to hold it in place, keeping my breasts covered as I turned back around to face him before slowly letting my arm drop, the bra following suit. I was naked from the waist up and he drank in the sight of me like a man dying of thirst.

Itching to even the playing field I tentatively touched the buttons on his shirt, my eyes asking permission. I'd seen the scars on his back before, but it was always a touchy subject so I wanted to be sure he felt comfortable. He nodded jerkily and I offered him an encouraging grin. The fact he trusted me with this meant more than I could ever explain. Slowly I undid each button before sliding my hands under his shirt, gradually running my hands across his chest then up to his shoulders. He groaned, eyes slamming shut as he pressed his lips together, fighting to remain in control. I smiled internally as I slide the shirt off, letting it fall to the ground. He was undeniable gorgeous, his body a swathe of lean muscles that drew my attention in every direction all at once. My eyes flicked to his as I laid a hand on his belt buckle, a hiss of air escaping between his clenched teeth when I unlatched it. I wasted no time hastily unbuckling his pants, my own need pooling low in my belly. The drenched denim fell to the floor, the buckle clinking as it hit the ground. He kicked off his boots, stepping out of the wet fabric bunched around his ankles.

He was a vision standing their naked. His body built to perfection. Years of hunting and back breaking work carving his body into stone. He was made for survival, every inch of muscle serving a purpose, but as my heart galloped in my chest it felt like he was made simply to be my undoing. One look at him and I wanted to ravish him. I wanted to own him. I wanted to feel every inch of him against every inch of me, over and over, slow, fast and every speed in-between.

He walked closer and I couldn't stop my fingers as they reached out exploring his chest and abs with rapt fascination. If possible he felt more amazing than he looked. My god how I missed him. He sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth as my hands traced a path across his body, and in that moment I felt empowered. Not in the same way I did when I faced a herd of walkers or charged into battle, but it was a similar heady sensation. I licked my lips, my fingers trailing down the first of his many tightly coiled ab muscles. His hand snapped forward, encircling my wrist gently, stopping me.

"What?" I croaked, my throat dry.

"Yur turn."

He didn't need to elaborate and I let my hands fall to my side as he undid the button on my jeans. Unlike his baggy pants mine were skin tight. The wet jeans stayed rooted in place even after he freed the button and pulled down the zipper.

"Guess you're gonna have to do it the hard way." On second thought, maybe water wasn't so bad after all.

He looked down at me, his lips twitching. "Guess so."

When his hands slide into my jeans, slipping underneath my panties and down my hips I felt unsteady on my feet. When he started pulling both garments down my legs so slowly my throat went dry I thought I might pass out. He knelt before me, our eyes locked, my hands on his shoulders as he slowly helped me out of one leg then the other. When I felt his lips trailing kisses up my thighs my heart did a backflip, my nails digging into his shoulders as my mouth watered in anticipation. He drug his tongue across my stomach, hands caressing me with firm pressure that felt like the most sensual massage known to man. He stood and now it was his turn to stare. It wasn't the first time I was naked in front of him, but this felt different. It felt like more. It felt like everything. Any doubts I had evaporated when I saw the raw hunger in his fiery gaze, the intensity heating me to my core. He wasn't just thrilled with what he saw. He was downright ecstatic. A girl could get used to this.

Before I could register what he was doing I was on my back with him above me. I expected to feel the hard surface of cabin floor pressing against me, but instead I felt a plush quilt and the soft but old springs of a mattress. There was a bed in here? I hadn't even noticed. Not that I was complaining. Daryl pressed his forehead against mine, one hand slipping to the nape of my neck as the other pulled the hair tie from my hair, my tresses billowing out around my head like a halo. Staring up at him, his eyes as bright and beautiful as any sapphire my love for him knew no bounds. I couldn't contain it, couldn't comprehend its endless depth.

"I love you," I told him, my voice shaking. "I didn't think this was something I deserved. I didn't think it was possible, for someone to…" He shook his head, silently telling me I was wrong, so very wrong. "For the first time in my life I've felt happiness and it's all because of you. Everything that's good inside of me I owe to you. You're the best part of me."

I would have kept going, could have spent the entire night trying to explain the magnitude to which he changed me, but he silenced me with his mouth. His lips were gentle on mine, a sweet sweep of his tongue that was at such odds with the man himself I felt it all the way down to my toes. His grip on my neck tightened as one hand strayed to my hips, tilting them up as he urged me closer. I felt his heart beating in his chest as he pressed me into the mattress, my hands sweeping through his hair and down his back. He poured every ounce of his love into each kiss and every touch. It felt like he was claiming me and I claimed him right back. After everything we went through, all the obstacles we faced, we somehow found our way back to each other.

There was nothing between us now, but I was heady with need for more of him. I wanted him so badly my body ached. I craved him, the longing a bottomless pit I would never be able to escape. I pulled him closer, his hands burning a trail down my body as his lips tattooed my soul. I knew he felt the same desire, the same passion, the same hunger. It was in every roll of his hips and swipe of his tongue. He didn't speak with words because this was Daryl. He didn't express himself verbally, but he used his body like a finely tuned instrument, spelling out every feeling, thought and desire one painfully arousing touch at a time.

I thought I heard him mutter "beautiful" as he trailed a line of languid kisses between my breasts, but was having a hard time understanding the English language. When he lifted his head, grinning at me slightly before continuing down my ribs to my stomach I forgot to breathe. He moved again, his head between my legs, and all higher reasoning skills flew out the window. My back arched as he kissed the most sensitive part of me, lapping me up as I moaned his name like a prayer, his hands holding my hips in place even as I bucked against him, the exquisite pleasure devastating me. His every touch, every kiss, sent a jolt of desire surging through me until I was teetering on the brink of exploding.

"Please," I whimpered, my hands spread out wide as I gripped the quilt, hanging on for dear life.

He obliged with a sensual swipe of his tongue and that was all it took. My eyes slammed shut, his name catching in my throat. It felt so good, so unbelievable my body quaked with aftershocks long after he was done. I felt high, like I might float up thought the ceiling and touch the stars. My body was mush under him as he made his way back up my body, kissing every inch of skin, bracing an arm on either side of my head as he gazed down at me.

"Thank…thank you." My tongue felt swollen and lazy as I stumbled over the words. A thunderous laugh burst out of him, his shoulders shaking as he held himself above me.

"Whatcha thankin' me for?" he inquired, leaning down and kissing my jaw. I tilted my head back, giving him better access. I felt his smirk as his tongue licked the sensitive nape of my neck making me shutter.

"Felt like I owed it to womankind," I sighed, eyes rolling somewhere in the back of my skull when he bit my earlobe. He stopped for a moment, reaching down beside the bed, fumbling with something for a moment before righting himself. My head felt impossibly heavy as I lifted it off the bed, curious what was important enough to stop the pleasure parade. When I saw him unwrapping the foil wrapper of a condom I thanked my lucky stars one of us was still adulting. "Good call."

He chuckled as he sank back down on me, his weight against my body indescribably wonderful. My body was instantly ready for more. My desire for him insatiable. Holy shitballs, this man should be studied. My hands wound around him pulling him down even as I angled my hips up. There was nothing between us and all I could think about was my need for more, but as he pushed into me with one soft, solid stroke I stopped trying to think and focused only on feeling. The way he moved inside me, the soft growl that rumbled in his chest as I matched his pace was heaven. His eyes never left my face and I was transfixed. He was beautiful and he was mine. My hands dug into his shoulders as the pressure built inside of me. He said my name, maybe, I couldn't say for sure as he found just the right angle to coax another intoxicating rush of sensation out of me.

By his own admission I knew he only had a handful of lovers, and as such, one might expect him to be clumsy or timid, but he navigated my body like he was born to do it. He knew even before I did what I wanted, what I needed. I had no idea how he did what he did. It was like he was magic. Never before had I shook and trembled in someone's arms, and those soft, pleading noises coming from my lips were foreign to my ears. I was putty in his hands. Being stretched and pulled, reshaped in his capable hands. I felt like a piece of cloth being pulled too tight. It was too much and still not enough, pressure building and building to the point I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could do nothing but beg him for the release only he could provide. He muttered something, hips slamming into me and then, without warning, the tension snapped, and I was caught in a whirlwind not unlike the one raging outside the tiny cabin. Daryl groaned my name, a hoarse whisper against my ear as he followed me into the storm, hs body shaking above me as he found his release before collapsing on top of me.

"Damn," he mumbled, his head tucked against my shoulder as I gently stroked his hair.

"You can say that again Legolas."

He wiggled in my arms, rolling onto his back and pulling me flush against him as he covered us with the quilt. I laid my head on his chest, absently tracing random patterns on his skin as I listened to the wind howling outside and the steady thump of his heart. Maybe it would never stop raining and we could stay here forever. My body felt boneless and weak in his arms. I doubted I could fight off Nugget in my current state and I was fine with that. I wanted an eternity of nights like this.

"Do you ever think about the future?" I asked.

It took him a moment to respond. He took a deep breath, his voice lazy. "Nah."

"Even before all this?"

"Never saw the point I guess." He rubbed his hand up and down my bare arms, hugging me tighter when I shivered, taking care to tuck the blanket firmly around me. "What 'bout you?"

I thought about my future on an endless loop, both before and after the end of the world. When I was a child I was desperate to be something, anything other than who I was, trying in vain to outrun my parentage. I always wondered if my future held anything different than my youth. I wanted a life free of pain, disappointment, and heartbreak. Unfortunately, as an adult little changed except the demons I ran from. I held little hope my future held anything except the same loneliness I experienced as a child and an early death. The only place I found refugee were my dreams on the rare occasions they weren't plagued by nightmares. On those nights I was someone else, someone happy, someone loved. I dreamed of a place without shape, more feelings than actual detail, but in that bright shapeless future I was who I always wanted to be. Those dreams were peaceful and I was more peaceful for them. That was the future I wanted.

"Red?" he probed, his body shifting as he tucked an arm beneath his head, propping it up.

"I want a future where I can use my hands for something other than destruction," I admitted, my cheek pressed against his chest as I wrapped my arm around his waist. "I don't want to only be a killer."

He gathered me into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "Yur more than that. Always have been."

"That's not true."

"Look at me." I obeyed, tilting my head back. "It's true." When I shook my head he shushed me. "Yur more than that to me."

"Daryl…"

He picked up my hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing my palm, "These hands have done more than killin'." I blinked rapidly as he turned my hand over pressing another soft kiss to the other side. "Dontcha see…the future ya want is already real." He collected both my hands, holding them together in the palm of his hand. "Yur hands have loved me. They don't just tear things down, and I would know cause I ain't never felt like this, not ever. I love ya so damn much it feels like I might die without ya."

A single tear fell as I sniffled, "Thank you."

He rolled his eyes, brushing off the compliment as he settled back into the bed. "Could get used to ya thankin' me all the time."

"Please," I scoffed. I couldn't have him getting spoiled.

He laughed, "Getting' pretty used to hearin' that too." I playfully shoved him, a silent laughter shaking his body. I snuggled against him, my body tired and eyes heavy as sleep pulled at me. "Hey Red."

"Yeah," I yawned.

"When ya asked if I ever thought about the future…." he trailed off and I waited. "I ain't never thought 'bout it cause there wasn't nothin' to think about. I was nobody b'fore all this. Nothin' was gonna change that."

"And now?"

I heard him biting his fingernail. "I never thought I had a future to think 'bout." He paused, his voice so quiet I had to strain to hear. "When I think 'bout it now I see ya. Yur my future."

Shakespeare didn't have shit on declarations of love compared to Daryl Dixon. I relished his words, tucking them away in the safest place in my heart where I could revisit them. I knew the second we left this cabin the proverbial bubble we were surrounded by would burst thrusting us back into the harsh reality of the world. But these moments, his words, I could cherish them whenever I wanted. No one would ever witness this side of him, it was only for me, and I promised to protect his trust with everything at my disposal. I gave myself to him, fully, completely, holding nothing back as we showed each other our love again and again until night faded into early morning. As I drifted off, my sweaty, sated body tucked firmly against his, I smiled remembering Carol's words. She was right. I knew that now, knew it with the same certainty that the sun would rise and set each day. It became my truth. My entire existence.

Daryl Dixon would love me for the rest of his life and I would love him right back.

"Hey Katniss." Now it was his turn to yawn.

"Yeah." I curled into a ball, biting my lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

His body went stiff under me and I couldn't hold the laughter in for another second. My body shook as tears streamed down my face. He rolled over slightly taking me with him as he looked down at me, his face more embarrassed than angry. Another spasm of giggles ripped through me as I realized it was true. He cried at the end of The Notebook. I threw my head back, laughing so hard my stomach hurt, the sound filling the quiet cabin.

"I'm gonna kill him."

This is it...the big finale. Was it everything you were hoping for and more? I really hope it was worth the wait. They didn't just make up...they got married! :) Let me know what you think.